Darkwood is a survival horror game that subjects the players to surviving in an overgrown forest with horrifying creatures living inside. Those that find themselves inside the forest cannot escape as the way out has been blocked by the thickness of the woods.
Trying to outsmart the creatures that lurk around the hideouts at night or roam around these woods can be difficult. However, players can upgrade their character through unlocking skills by cooking certain items for their essence at an oven in their base. Some of these skills are active while others are passive allowing players to make the most of several traits at a time.
10 Appetite
Although a tier three positive trait, Appetite is only useful in occasions where the player has an abundance of resources. It allows the player to consume wood or boards to restore their health.
However, these boards and pieces of a wood are more important for blocking windows or crafting other items and therefore should only be used during dire times. Not only this, but eating wood will only restore a single pip of health with boards only restore one third of a pip making it not the most useful.
9 Vitality
Having more health in a survival title is always vital, especially as when players progress in the story of Darkwood, the enemies they face in new places will hit substantially harder. Vitality is a passive trait unlocked at tier four of the skills that increases the player's health.
Prior to alpha this skill was a lot more powerful, though in the current version of the game Vitality only increases the player's health by 25% making it an almost unnoticeable difference but 25% may be all a player needs to survive.
8 Moth
As the name Moth suggests, this skill relies on light sources to be useful. Unlike the other traits mentioned that have played quite a passive role in a player's survival, Moth allows players to actively heal themselves once a day by standing in the godly rays of a light source.
Players can unlock this skill early on as it's a part of the first tier. Once activated players will have 45 seconds to stand near an electrical light source that is turned on to restore their health, they must then wait till the next day to use it again.
7 Eagle Eye
Keeping a keen eye out can be useful when avoiding upcoming dangers or being prepared for the foes ahead of a player. Eagle Eye is by far one of the most beneficial skills to unlock, and it will likely be one of the first players get since being in the first tier of upgrades.
Eagle Eye allows a player to look in a direction further and can be used consistently without need to recharge over a day. It may not improve a player's damage output or defend them in any way, but this doesn't mean that players can't be more tactful with what they do.
6 Acid Blood
For those new to Darkwood, Acid Blood may be a useful skill to pick up once unlocking tier two of the skills. This positive passive makes the player's blood acidic meaning if they are hit by an enemy, the enemy is also injured.
While getting hurt will still be risky as a player will want to avoid taking damage at all costs, being able to hit someone back during that moment could defeat the enemy or at least injure them in some way. This can also be implemented into tactics when dealing with certain foes.
5 Mushroom Healing
Players may be surprised to see Mushroom Healing so high on the list especially as Mushrooms are commonly used to create essence in order to level up and unlock these perks. However, by the second chapter or late into the game players are likely to have already leveled up to max and therefore don't need them.
This allows players that don't feel they need to create gas bottles another use for mushrooms especially in dangerous situations where healing items are low, and they are nearing death.
4 Scream
Taking the defensive in a survival isn't the cowardly way to play but instead the smart way. Sometimes a player will be overpowered by the foes that surround them and this is when Scream shines.
This power can be used once a day, when activated it will cause the enemies around the player to flee two screens away from where the player is and no longer be aggressive to them. This power only doesn't work on Banshees, floor gore, the Wolfman, and the Doctor which are foes players are unlikely to face in masses.
3 Third Eye
Not all active skills need to be used to injure an enemy, others can be used to plan ahead or implemented into combat. Something as simple as Third Eye can also be used in this way as this active skill unlocked at tier two allows the player to look completely around them zoomed out to see the approaching dangers.
Although it only lasts for a minute it can be incredibly useful when planning how to avoid upcoming foes or especially against enemies such as human spiders as these will move slower when seen.
2 Runner
Sometimes the best tactic is to run like the wind when the danger becomes too much. Skills like Runner may at first appear useless but being able to sprint without losing stamina for 20 seconds can help when a player finds themselves in a bind.
This can help when running away from persistent enemies or if a player finds themselves a distance away from their hideout and the night will soon be approaching. It can however only be used once a day and therefore players should only use it when it's vital.
1 Adrenaline
Out of all the skills available to unlock through the oven in Darkwood, by far one of the most vital passive skills players should aim towards unlocking is the Adrenaline skill at tier four. Adrenaline gives the player a boost to their melee damage when they have less than 25% of their health remaining.
This allows for one final effort to annihilate those around them before they succumb to their injuries. Doubling this with a powerful melee weapon can allow for some overpowered tactics where a player allows their health to remain low in order to do this brutal amount of damage.
Darkwood is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.